Minimizing Barriers to Using the Library
As of July 1, Arlington Public Library eliminated overdue library fines to make the library’s collections accessible to all Arlingtonians and library patrons. The goal is to increase access to and minimize barriers for marginalized populations to use the library, particularly for youth and low-income patrons.
“Every member of our community has a right to library services and library fines and fees are known barriers to use. We are pleased that we can eliminate these long- standing barriers and continue our mission to reach everyone regardless of their socioeconomic background,” says Diane Kresh, Director of Arlington Public Library.
The elimination of fines will reduce the Library fine budget by an expected $155,000 in anticipated revenue to $10,000 in FY 2021. The $10,000 remains in the budget due to the continuation of replacement fees for lost items.
Borrowing
Patrons will be able to borrow an item for up to twelve weeks if no other patron has placed a hold or up to 3 weeks if another patron has a hold on the item.
If the item is not returned at the end of the loan period, a grace period of twenty-eight days will come into effect. The patron will not accrue overdue fines during the twenty-eight days. If the item is not returned by the end of the grace period, the item is considered lost and a replacement fee will be charged. If a replacement fee is charged and the item is later returned, the fee is reversed. The replacement fee is dependent on the cost of the book.
Going forward, patrons who either lose or fail to return items to the Library will be assessed a replacement fee that will affect their ability to borrow, renew, place holds on materials, or log in to premium sites, such as Consumer Reports until the fee has been paid or the item has been returned.
Patrons with existing fines will still need to pay those. During the library closure, no fines were accrued for checked-out items.
Paying Fines
- By phone at 703-228-5260; Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
- By mail with a check or money order mailed to Central Library, Attention: Circulation, 1015 N. Quincy St, Arlington, VA 22201
- Please include the library card number with the payment and make the check payable to “Treasurer of Arlington County.”
To find out more about borrowing, loan periods and renewals, visit the accounts information page.
How is eliminating overdue fines eliminating barriers? Everyone has the same amount of time to borrow library materials for free. The late fee is imposed to ensure that patrons return materials in a timely manner. If no one places a hold on an item, then what is to prevent a person from habitually violating the loan period? Some patrons may not know how to place a hold (especially young children or people for whom English is a second language), or they may lack Internet access at home to be able to conveniently place a hold. In addition, some people may not know what they want to borrow until they browse the library shelves. If there are materials missing from the shelves because people choose not to return items on time, then this policy would be a disservice to the community and negatively affect the marginalized populations for whom it is intended to help.
Patrick – I disagree. You point out the equality of time to borrow materials for free. That does not mean fines do not impede access. Qualitative and quantitative data show that once people have library fines, they use library services less, including physically coming in and using online services. Said differently, fines equal less utilization.
In Arlington, Arlington Public Library disables access to library services if your fines are above a certain level. For example, my older child was unable to find a borrowed book for several weeks, and the late fines added up above the limit. If I didn’t pay it, the library would not allow him to use library resources (including online resources, checking out other books, etc.). Some families might just allow their child to not have those services until they found the book (or were sure it was lost). Not wanting to declare it lost and pay a large amount upfront, we chose to pay the late fine and keep looking for it. When we eventually gave up, it turned out we had to pay the full lost book fine on top of late fines – effectively a double fine! We paid the double fine (with some grumbling), but put strict limits on his borrowing books. Other families find that library use just isn’t worth the cost racked up by children. In effect, this is a lack of access. Similarly, we do not allow our children to rent movies or board games, which have higher fines. They do not have access to these resources, given the cost.
Accordingly, I applaud APL on the move. It is long overdue.
Question about the new no-late-fee policy. You said if the book has a hold on it then the person can’t keep it longer than three weeks, vs. twelve weeks if there are no holds. But what if the borrower takes a book for 12 weeks because there are no holds, but then someone comes along during week two and puts a hold on it. Does that mean the original borrower’s time is suddenly reduced to three weeks (meaning they now have only one more week to read it since they’re already in week two)? And what if they can’t read it in that time and choose not to return it? There seems to be no penalty for that since they then have the 28-day grace period. So what all that sounds like to me is that those of us who have holds might have to wait even longer than we do now. Even a popular book with a long hold list will be affected, since the current borrower will have that 28-day wait period with zero penalty for returning the book late. Even if they go past the 28 days and are charged a replacement fee they’ll get it back when they eventually return the book. All of this sounds like disadvantages to me for anyone who has holds.
Seems well-intentioned but is there any data backing up that this will help? Seems like it’ll just disincentivize everyone from returning items on time.